Small bookshelf speakers w/sub- 80Hz crossover?

[300exoh]

I recently purchased a Dayton Audio SUB-800 8" 80 Watt Powered Subwoofer for my sons system. He is running an older Pioneer 2ch. receiver with a small set of Advent bookshelf speakers. I connected the sub and speakers using the high level connections since the pioneer had no subwoofer output. The documentation with the sub says that there is no crossover built in the limit the speakers so they are basically running full range. I would like to limit the Advents to 80Hz but I'm not sure how this can be done? Any info would be greatly appreciated. The setup sounds great but at higher listening levels the bass seems to overcome the bookshelf speakers a bit.

 

[agarwalro]

This is not going to be straightforward. What is your budget on getting this resolved? The options are,

1. Place active crossover before the Pioneer (works only for one input)
2. Build a high pass filter for the speakers/ modify existing crossover (most challenging)
3. Replace Pioneer with a unit that has subwoofer management (costly)
4. Carefully adjust the sub level so that it blends well with the Advents (Free )

 

[Adam]

I agree that adjusting the controls on the sub to get it to blend well is the best alternative, given that it sounds great except for when you crank it up. That sounds more like a gain setting issue than the crossover.

However, another option is to get a crossover like you mentioned. Parts Express sells 80 Hz high pass crossovers for about $15 (you'd need two, one for each speaker). You'd want to put some sort of box/container around them, but that wouldn't need to be much. I'm sure that there are other options out there, but those are the ones that I found after about 10 minutes of looking around.

 

[agarwalro]

Parts Express sells 80 Hz high pass crossovers for about $15 (you'd need two, one for each speaker).

I almost linked that filter but stopped. To get those in the mix would require knowing what filter network is inside and what kind of impedance it represents (because the PE part needs 8 ohms). I don't know enough to say if adding that will make more problem for the internal crossover (at minimum a 180 degree phase shift well occur).

 

[sholling]

Probably the easiest solution is to watch CraigsList for a used 5.1 channel receiver with bass management. You should be be able to find something for $50-75.

 

[Adam]

I still like the idea that agarwalro stated already - adjust the sub controls. I'll bet that adjusting the gain and crossover will yield good results.

 

[bikdav]

Agreed.

Probably the easiest solution is to watch CraigsList for a used 5.1 channel receiver with bass management. You should be be able to find something for $50-75.

That is just what I ended up doing on one of my systems. I have a pair of Paradigm Atoms and a PDR-10 subwoofer. The two channel receiver wasn't cutting it very good. I found a Sony STR-DE925 at a yard sale for $25. Its bass management fixed the problem big time. The system sounds way better.

 

[300exoh]

Thanks for the info. I'm going to look into the PE high pass crossover. As for the phase shift I would be able to adjust for that with the phase control on the sub...correct? The speakers are 8 ohm so the crossover should work. If not the used receiver isn't a bad idea.

 

[lsiberian]

The best solution and probably the cheapest is to find an old used receiver that has a sub out. Ebay is your friend and just about anything with a sub out should do the trick. Panasonic HE, HK AVR154 are ones currently around 50 bucks. Craigslist has some options too.

A passive high pass filter at those frequencies problematic.

 

[bikdav]

That Is What I Feared

The best solution and probably the cheapest is to find an old used receiver that has a sub out. Ebay is your friend and just about anything with a sub out should do the trick. Panasonic HE, HK AVR154 are ones currently around 50 bucks. Craigslist has some options too.

A passive high pass filter at those frequencies problematic.

That's what I was fearing. That is why I didn't go the passive crossover route in my situation. I also needed a way to adjust all the channel levels _ something that only a decent A/V receiver can do.

 

[AHNube]

I accidentally responded to the wrong thread, so I'll give my $0.02 on this.
It is really surprising the general lack of bass management on stereo equipment. One product I found interesting is the Emotiva USP-1 pre/pro.
It is pretty expensive and totally overkill for OP's setup, but I'm sure its well worth it depending on your gear.
I was generally surprised about the cost of multi-channel receivers being pretty low compared to a lot of the stereo gear out there and they offer much better bass management.
The OP may want to check out the miniDSP, it is fairly affordable and could be a fun way to get some good bass management results.